There is a drastic drop in the number of bird hits on aircraft at the Coimbatore International Airport from April 2015 to March 2016. While 24 bird hits (the highest in a year at the airport here) was reported in 2014-15, it has reduced to 11 in 2015-16.
While two flights were grounded in the previous financial year in October 2014, only one flight was grounded last financial year (October 2015). Interestingly, there has been no bird hit at the international airport from November to March. “We are striving to make it a zero bird hit year,” Airport Director G. Prakash Reddy told The Hindu . Efforts taken to reduce bird hits included a massive rally near the airport, urging the public not to dump wastes, especially meat waste, in the open.
The Corporation too stepped up surveillance around the airport.
Efforts by Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore to segregate wastes that get collected from aircraft and generated at the airport premises twice a day has minimised bird movement within the airport premises.
